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SCUTTLEBUTT 3580 - Monday, April 30, 2012Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors,providing a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Quantum Sail Design Group and APS. TRAGEDY STRIKES AGAIN (April 29, 2012) - With mild winds forecasted for the 125 nm Lexus Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race, 213 entries started on Friday with expectations of a relaxing reach down the coast toward the land of tequila and tacos. But the party mood would soon turn somber when reports of another tragedy were released. An investigation is underway involving the Hunter 376 Aegean, which appears to have been in a collision during the race with a large ship several miles off the coast near the border. The boat was destroyed, killing three of the crew while the fourth crew member remains missing. Two weeks ago, five crew died when huge waves pummeled James Bradford's Sydney 38 Low Speed Chase, which was competing in the Full Crew Farallones Race, sponsored by San Francisco Yacht Club. The first indication of this latest incident was at 1:30 a.m. Saturday when the boat's image vanished from the online race tracking system in place for the race. A Coast Guard search was launched that led to discovery of the boat's wreckage, including the rear transom with the boat's name on it. Three bodies were discovered just before 10 a.m. Saturday amid the wreckage and recovered, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. All three victims were men; their names have not yet been released. Saturday's extensive search involved a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter, a 45-foot response boat, and a C-130 Hercules aircraft as well as the Coast Guard cutter Sea Otter, a Mexican navy vessel and civilian boats, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Allyson Conroy. The search continued through Sunday for the fourth crew member, covering some 500-square miles, officials said. "Our Coast Guard members feel for the family and friends of these sailors and we continue to keep them on our thoughts and prayers," said Capt. Sean Mahoney, the service's San Diego sector commander. The owner and skipper was identified as Theo Mavromatis, 49, of Redondo Beach (CA) who is also a member of the Little Ships Fleet Yacht Club in Long Beach (CA). It is not known if he is one of the victims. "An investigation was continuing, but it appeared the damage was not inflicted by an explosion but by a collision with a ship much larger than the 37-foot vessel," said race spokesman Rich Roberts. The Coast Guard is investigating the ships that transited the area at the time of the incident. Race reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13370 AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT New York will be start city for the new MOD70 class's first ever trans-oceanic race. The class, a one-design 70 foot trimaran conceived in 2009 and designed by VPLP to provide evenly matched high speed racing, will set off on July 7th for the MOD 70 KRYS Ocean Race's across the North Atlantic to a finish in Brest, France. The five teams will initially be based in Newport, Rhode Island at the Newport Shipyard between June 28-July 2. Ahead of this 2950 nm race, a 120 nm prologue from Newport to New York starts on July 2 to a finish line off New York's iconic Statue of Liberty on July 3rd. The fleet will then dock at Manhattan's tranquil North Cove Marina. On July 5th, a speed match will be held on the Hudson River at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. The MOD 70 KRYS Ocean Race will begin on July 7 at 1100hrs (EDT). Compete will be: Race for Water - Steve Ravussin Foncia - Michel Desjoyeaux Edmond de Rothschild Group - Sebastien Josse Spindrift Racing - Yann Guichard Oman Sail - Sidney Gavignet Full details: http://tinyurl.com/MOD70-042912 QUANTUM SAILS WELCOMES NEW LOFT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Quantum Sail Design Group is pleased to introduce its newest loft, Quantum Sails SoCal, owned by Sam Heck. A 30-year sailmaking veteran, Sam has built everything from dinghy to maxi boat sails. Complete sail care and repair services are offered along with new sails, coaching and teaching. Sam's been sailing since age 16, when he started cruising with his family. As a racer, Sam sails primarily larger keelboats, participating in dozens of Mexico races, Transpacs, Coastal Cups, Big Boat Series, SoCal Series, and more. The loft is located at 1620 W. Cowles Street in Long Beach. Contact Sam at 562-624-4325 or SoCal@QuantumSails.com THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO It only took General Sam Houston a total of 18 minutes to win the Battle of San Jacinto and secure the freedom of Texas from the sleeping army of Santa Anna. For the 45 boat fleet sailing at Houston Yacht Club for the 2012 A Class US Nationals, an 18 minute battle may have felt like a good sailing opportunity given the weather delays Santa Anna conjured up from his grave to revenge the defeat he suffered all those years ago. To add insult to injury, the weather had been postcard perfect the full week before the event with a number of boats arriving early to practice and enjoy classic SE Galveston Bay sea breeze and warm early spring temperatures. Regatta chair Bob Webbon did his best to invoke the favor of the Aztec wind god Ehecatl by sacrificing a side of beef for the kick off cocktail party on Thursday evening at his humble abode not far from the club. As a result of that party, and the rumors of late night raucous behavior by visiting sailors, there were few complaints about the scheduled start time for first race on Friday of 1300 hours. Unfortunately, Mr. Webbon must have sacrificed one of Ehecatl's favorite sides of beef. The God expressed his wrath by sending in a storm front that sucked all the wind from the area for the entire day, until the front itself came through with the bang of thunder and some horizontal rain. Fortunately, all the sailors had taken proper precautions of lowering their mast and tying down their boats to prevent any unintended sacrifices of carbon fiber. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13655 SERIOUSLY WINDY Hyeres, France (April 27, 2012) - The final day at Semaine Olympique Française (4th event on ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit) saw blistering winds above 20 knots wreak havoc on the scoreboard. The Laser medals were decided by a broken mast, and the Women's Match Race never raced their finals. If strong winds prove the theme in Weymouth for the 2012 Olympics, the athletes will all remember Hyeres for the training it provided. Canadian Star sailors Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn fell off the podium into fourth when the winds got the best of them. "Early in the run just as we were getting settled and thinking about the pole we went down a massive wave with no exit and buried the bow, we call this 'going down the mine' and it usually ends badly," explained Clarke. "Luckily we maintained control of the boat, kept the rig pointing skyward but completely filled the boat with water. I mean completely filled to the brim as there was maybe 4" cockpit left before she overfilled." With the strong winds keeping the Paralympic classes ashore, Jennifer French and JP Creignou (USA) held onto the Bronze medal. Americans Amanda Clark and Sarah Lihan have been a force as the winds increase, and their deuce in the Medal Race propelled them to earn the Silver medal. But the strongest showing was in the Women's Match Race where American skippers Anna Tunnicliffe and Sally Barkow finished 1-2. "We are very excited that we came out on top at this event, our last event leading into our Olympic Trials which start on May 4th," said Tunnicliffe. Event website: http://sof.ffvoile.fr/ RE-START (April 29, 2012; Day 8) - So much for being in control. It was on Friday when PUMA was in the lead, covering the fleet, on layline to the tip of Brazil, and prepping for a left turn over the weekend toward Miami. They would be the first to hop on the 'Trade Wind Express' through the Caribbean. They were ready to be gone. But as Volvo meteorologist Gonzalo Infante had predicted, the trade winds eased, and the fleet compressed near the point. PUMA bled miles all weekend as CAMPER and Telefonica converged with more pressure. The good news for PUMA was the advantageous current and wind along the northern shore of Brazil had kept the group together, and their inside position increased their lead by 8nm in the latest sked. Whew, breathing room again! PUMA navigator Tom Addis said the top three boats had been sailing in pleasant down wind conditions, and believed the first boat into the trades would get a jump on the fleet but said he believed that the fleet's fourth Equator crossing could still be fraught with risk for the leg leaders. "We would always prefer to be leading into those situations, but it is a fairly fragile one this time I think," Addis said. "The Doldrums aren't looking too bad for us and I think the first one into the trades should be able to extend, but it doesn't look like we get all the way to the finish in that mode. It looks like we are going to go soft again after the Caribbean, so that will mean another compression from behind unfortunately." That leaves hope for Groupama, which got caught in a cloud shuffle before the tip of Brazil, and has been left behind in lesser wind conditions. Latest predictions suggest the leading boats should arrive in Miami on or around May 9. - Scuttlebutt, Event media Leg 6 - Itajai, Brazil to Miami, USA (4,800 nm) Standings as of Sunday, 29 April 2012, 22:02:48 UTC 1. PUMA Ocean Racing (USA), Ken Read (USA), 2891.0 nm Distance to Finish 2. Telefonica (ESP), Iker Martinez (ESP), 10.1 nm Distance to Lead 3. CAMPER (NZL), Chris Nicholson (AUS), 10.8 nm DTL 4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE), Ian Walker (GBR), 49.8 nm DTL 5. Groupama 4 (FRA), Frank Cammas (FRA), 118.5 nm DTL 6. Team Sanya (CHN), Mike Sanderson (NZL), Did not start Tracker/Standings: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html Schedule: http://tinyurl.com/VOR-2011-12-schedule Video reports: http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos BACKGROUND: During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain (Oct. 29) and concludes in Galway, Ireland during early July 2012, six professional teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles around the world via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient. Teams accumulate points through nine distance legs and ten In-Port races. - http://www.volvooceanrace.com APS IS NOW OFFERING FREE SHIPPING! What do a J/24 winch, Musto MPX foulies, and a Tacktick compass have in common? They all ship FREE from APS! As our way of showing appreciation to our loyal customers, APS is now shipping online ground orders over $300 for free. Along with free shipping we've simplified our shipping costs to provide flat rates that are easy to use. That's right - no calculator necessary. Order online and shipping is on us. Some restrictions apply. Check out page 166 of the new APS Catalog for more info or follow this link: http://bit.ly/JMTF2H SAILING SHORTS * Hamilton Bermuda (April 27, 2012) - Six-time IOD World Champion Penny Simmons won the last two races in Bacardi's Bermuda International Race Week, but it wasn't quite enough to pop him into the lead in either the IOD 'B' series or the overall 13-race test for the IOD Vrengen Gold Cup. Giles Peckham of Cowes UK scored an 8-2 today and won the six race 'B' series while Simmons came second. The Vrengen Gold Cup for first overall in the series finally went to the John Burham-Peter Rugg co-skippered Fishers Island NY team. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13654#13654 * St. Petersburg, FL (April 28, 2012) - Nine races were completed for the 44 competitors at the Contender Worlds on Florida's West Coast. Italy's Antonio Lambertini won, with countryman Giovanni Bonzio trailing by four points. Denmark's Soren Dulong Andreasen enjoyed the windier races to pull up to third,with Open Regatta winner Joachim Harpprecht of Germany placing fourth. Fifth was Florida's Ethan Bixby, who won both of the lighter air races. Also represented were Canada, Great Britain, Australia and The Netherlands. -- Event reports: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13607 * Falmouth Harbour, Antigua (April 28, 2012) - There was drama right from the start of the 2012 Yachting World Round Antigua Race: Squally conditions intensified the trade winds to churn up the swell into a foaming powerful sea state with waves reaching over three metres. The feisty conditions caused at least two retirements due to gear failure. Allyn Salomon's Beneteau Oceanis 473, Hermosita suffered a damaged rudder and South African Jan Rupert entry, Tripp 75 Blackbird was another casualty. The Mini Maxi suffered a ripped mainsail as the mighty yacht pounded through the surf. -- Read on: http://www.sailingweek.com/v3/news.php?id=192 * West Palm Beach, FL (April 29, 2012) - Two more crazy races were conducted in Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday leaving Ryan DeVos on Volpe with winning America's Cup helmsman Ed Baird as tactician and crew of Scott Nixon, Sam Rogers, Mike Hill, Drew Weirda and Scott Martins as 2012 Melges 32 East Coast Champions. In second overall, Jason Carroll on Argo finished with equal points, but lost the tiebreaker to DeVos on the last race of the day. Lanfranco Cirillo's Fantastica remained in the hunt throughout to finish third overall. -- Full report: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0429/ SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING CALENDAR Is your event listed on the Scuttlebutt Event Calendar? This free, self-serve tool is the easiest way to communicate to both sailors and sailing media. Events listed at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/calendar GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Dave Rosekrans: Last week in Scuttlebutt (3578, 3579), Nick Hayes and Alistair Murray may be right that the America's Cup has not brought significant participation into sailing; however, we respect the current organizer's efforts to make the America's Cup spectator friendly. The spectator's needs are driving the format of the races on an unprecedented scale. For example, for the first time in the Cup's history, the races are designed to be witnessed from shore. Among many other changes, the race course itself is structured to be easily viewed on TV and exciting for the spectator. We hope this America's Cup will be successful in creating awareness of sailing that translates into participation. EDITOR'S NOTE: Dave Rosekrans, Past President of US Sailing, submitted the above on behalf of himself and Steve Tsuchiya, Selection Committee Member of the America's Cup Hall of Fame. * From Dave Wilhite: What the Coast Guard imposed is a good idea (in Scuttlebutt 3579), even if it upsets people but this is also not a time for tough talk from either side. Safety Stand-Downs work in the military environment because they serve to refocus personal and reestablish moral but I'm not sure how the mechanism will work in the civilian world because it's not as though there's a set manual on how to facilitate safety meetings and it's not as though there is a true commanding officer within the Corinthian ranks of ocean racing. There are a bunch of ideas on how to safely run a boat and there seem to be a bunch of ideas floating about on what constitutes good seamanship. There's nothing wrong with SI's or current equipment lists or even the occasioned non–mandatory briefings held before races but put simply, we seem to have lost a way to positively take care of ourselves. Despite the fact that documents are probably available for those that take the time to seek out minutes of meetings, much of the conversation that goes on between organizers and the USCG, for all intents and purposes, are behind closed doors. Most sailors and apparently the OYRA simply have little idea of who is talking to whom and none of the meetings being held have minutes publicly posted for sailors to read. Needless to say there is a lot of distrust among rank and file sailors here. -- Read on: http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13658#13658 * From Richard M. Johnson: Yes, the race around the Farallon Islands was a tragedy, and we lost five ocean racing sailors from our local sailing community. However, many of us have participated in ocean yacht racing events for several years without a loss of life or equipment. They do not shut down any other sport or activity because of an accident. Did anyone ever think about shutting down water skiing, snowboarding, and snow skiing or sky diving or swimming when there was a fatality? Why is ocean yacht racing the only activity being shut down? Consider the City of Oakland, California; where from 1999 to 2010 there were 1191 murders in that city, an average of 99 murders per year, and doing a graph on these numbers, there seems to be a steady incline to this data. They have not shut down that city, they still allow people to drive through and walk around that city. Where is the logic? I would rather go around the Farallon Islands in my sailboat than take a walk down International Blvd. in Oakland, and I'll bet I could get a crew to do the Farallon Island event easier than get a group to stroll up and down International Boulevard in Oakland. Will this also include the "Transpac," either Single Handed or Crewed races? How about an America's Cup event going out the Gate? How about other races origination in other Coastal Communities? Is someone over reacting? COMMENT: It is not uncommon for the US Coast Guard to require permits for organized sailing events. Since it is the USCG assets that are needed during emergencies, they are clearly leveraging the permit process (offshore events only) to insure that race organizers are running safe events. Additionally, this does not appear to be a reaction by the USCG as a result of a single event, but the Farallon's incident clearly moved them into action. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION The State of Florida is bigger than England. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Quantum Sails - APS - Atlantis WeatherGear North Sails - J Boats - Team One Newport - North U JK3 Nautical Enterprises - Ullman Sails - Gowrie Group - Southern Spars Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
